Muramasa
The Muramasa is a katana which appears in many games of the Castlevania series. Origins The Muramasa is a high-quality katana made by the swordsmith Muramasa Sengo (or one of his students) during the Muromachi period in Japan. Muramasa, however, was a swordsmith infamous for having bouts of violent fits, which in spirit were considered to be passed onto his works and made his living during the Sengoku Jidai, one of Japan's more turbulent and violent periods of civil war. His works were considered less artistic and were empathized on solely being weapons. Upon the end of the Sengoku, Tokugawa Ieyasu, founder of Japan's Tokugawa Shogunate, after the establishment of his rule, forbade his samurai from using Muramasa's blades, supposedly due a combination of having cut himself badly with one and the weapons being common among his enemies, to where the brand was identified as the killing piece in incidents where the victim was that of his family. Muramasa was then vilified as a maker of "evil" blades in Japanese lore, often contrasted to the "good" swords of the Masamune. Many legends surround blades created by both smiths. One legend tells of the smiths Muramasa and Masamune placing blades in a river to test which was stronger. When Muramasa placed his sword in the running water, leaves floating by were drawn to it, every one cut cleanly in two. When Masamune did the same with his sword, the water flowed around the edge without touching it, carrying the leaves away from the blade as it did so. Often this tale concludes with an onlooker (such as the Emperor or Shogun) denouncing Muramasa's blade for its destructive nature, sometimes even ordering his execution. This story is clearly impossible since it's told as if the two smiths were contemporaries, when in fact Masamune lived 300 years before Muramasa. Another legend states that Muramasa blades are demonic and must draw blood before they can return to their scabbard; legends vary on what will happen if they do not. Game specific information ''Castlevania: Symphony of the Night Muramasa, like Gurthang, has automatic blood healing without having to cast Dark Metamorphosis; unlike Gurthang, it has the entire Dark Metamorphosis effect rather than just a flash on its command move, meaning it can blood-heal Alucard even if the enemy is damaged with a sub-weapon. On the surface, the Muramasa seems to be a worthless gimmick sword; it reduces your ATK by 5 and DEF by 4, will occasionally jam like a Red Rust if your current ATK is 10 or less, and has a slow swing speed. As the other weapon with negative ATK, Muramasa can deal Curse damage. It does not help that the most likely place to encounter it is the Forbidden Library, where the Fist of Tulkas and Crissaegrim can also be found, although a very lucky player may obtain it from Vandal Sword, which can be encountered in Clock Tower, prior to Karasuman. However, the Muramasa has a hidden ability, which is that it levels up as Alucard is healed by blood while using it. It gains a point of ATK for (current ATK×2 +11) blood heals; for example, to increase from its starting -5 to -4 ATK requires just 1 blood heal, -4 to -3 requires 3, and so on. Additionally, when your damage output is 30 or more (Muramasa's ATK bonus does not matter) it gains an automatic, free Slash Flurry every time it is swung (like the Masamune and Yasutsuna) and increases in swing speed. It takes several thousand blood heals for the Muramasa to exceed the Masamune in strength, making it impractical without use of a taped-down turbo controller, but the upper limit to the Muramasa's ATK is +999 (requiring over one million blood heals), meaning it is potentially the strongest weapon in the entire game. There are two main methods for leveling the Muramasa; one is to simply place Alucard in one corner of the mermen room in the Entrance, preferably with the Bloodstone equipped, and then tape down the attack button on a turbo controller and go and do something else. A faster method, but one requiring actual player input and more equipment, is to go the the Dark Octopus room in the Reverse Caverns. Alucard's equipment should be the Muramasa, Bloodstone, Blood Cloak, the Knife sub-weapon and whatever items the player has that lower Alucard's DEF and INT the most (the classic being a Duplicator). Throwing knives will produce a shower of blood with every hit; the INT debuffs will mean each octopus can take more knife hits (since less INT means the Knives will do less damage), the Bloodstone will ensure Alucard does not die, and the Blood Cloak will turn all damage received into hearts to continue throwing knives (which is why low DEF is desired, because you restore your hearts faster). If you feel confident enough and have all the necessary gear, you can make the leveling even faster by purchasing 2 Duplicators total, and not use the Bloodstone at all. To further lower your INT, you can also equip the Sunglasses on the head, and the Walk Armor. Without taking time to level it, the Muramasa is the worst of the three healing swords; it is far weaker than Gurthang and both weaker and more situational than the Mourneblade. A player must decide if they wish to invest the time to make it worthwhile, but if enough effort is put in it can end up even more powerful than the Crissaegrim. In the original PlayStation version, using a soft reset (all four shoulder buttons + SELECT + START) will result in the console retaining the Muramasa's current level in its RAM; if another game file is loaded in which the player has a Muramasa, the level will be passed to that game. Saving the game will permanently set that game's Muramasa to the new ATK value. Via the swinging animation, the blade itself appears to be akin to a normal sword, only the recovery animation when standing and/or crouching will have a brief splash of blood profuse from the sword afterwards. This visual effect is also shared with the Gurthang. Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow In this game, the Muramasa is the only weapon with the Curse attribute. As a result, its attack will be boosted by its target's HP if the target is vulnerable to curse. It can only be obtained from Lubicants, which are also vulnerable to Sword and Curse elements, the elements of Muramasa. Akin to the other "named katanas" (Onikiri, Kunitsuna and Yasutsuna), the Muramasa can hit twice if positioned correctly via holding down the B button upon swinging it. However, it loses this effect in trade of a unique 3-hit slash flurry for its Critical Art in ''Dawn of Sorrow. ''Castlevania: Order of Shadows The Muramasa is found on the upper level of the Castle Walls in section of the Castle Grounds area. It is in a candle on a perch that initially cannot be reached, but that can be reached by traveling far to the right, heading up, and then heading back left. It can also be reached by jumping off from the top of the Bat's Belfry after defeating the Twin Bats. The blade is swung below the belt. It is more powerful than the Platinum Blade (the other "fast" weapon), but consumes more hearts and has a shorter range. ''Castlevania: Harmony of Despair The sword returns to its former glory via its Symphony of the Night version, only it is a supposed combination between both the Symphony of the Night and Dawn of Sorrow versions. When swung by either Alucard or Soma, the original red slashing flurry effect occurs with a less-faded effect, as well as dealing more hits per slash unlike both versions. When swung by Alucard, the blade itself is surrounded in a red aura without the aforementioned blood spill. When swung by Soma, the blade is colored red akin to both the Dawn of Sorrow versions of Kunitsuna and Yasutsuna. Item Data Animations SOTN Muramasa 1.gif|'Muramasa' from Symphony of the Night Saturn Muramasa 2.gif|'Muramasa' from the Sega Saturn of Symphony of the Night SOTN Muramasa 2.gif| Weak Muramasa from Symphony of the Night SOTN Muramasa 3.gif|'Muramasa' jam from Symphony of the Night AoS Muramasa.gif|Muramasa from Aria of Sorrow DOS Muramasa.gif|'Muramasa' from Dawn of Sorrow DOS Muramasa 2.gif|'Muramasa' special attack from Dawn of Sorrow Category:Curse Assets Category:Healing Items Category:Japanese Lore Category:Katanas Category:Lightning Assets Category:Slash Damage Category:Sub-Weapons Category:Aria of Sorrow Items Category:Curse of Darkness Items Category:Dawn of Sorrow Items Category:Dracula X Chronicles Items Category:Encore of the Night Items Category:Harmony of Despair Items Category:Order of Shadows Items Category:Symphony of the Night Items